First Conciliations
by MrSchimpf
Summary: Laurel is unsure if Bonnie respects her after the end of the trial and is surprised when the firm law assistant catches her unaware.


**Title:** **First Conciliations  
Author:** Nate  
**Pairing:** Friendly (well, for Bonnie) Bonnie/Laurel, hints of sexual tension.  
**Spoilers:** Going off from the end of "It's All Her Fault".  
**Rating:** PG-13 (minor profanity and sexual tension)  
**Disclaimer:** Not making a pfennig off this; _How to Get Away With Murder_ is all Pete Nowalk, Shondaland and ABC Studios, and no profit is intended to be made off this work. Since we don't really know where in Philadelphia Middleton is located yet I haven't added the usual local references I have done in my previous works (outside of referencing the Philly soft pretzels Liza rhapsodized about during the pilot's West Coast livetweet).  
**Archiving:** FF·net, AO3 and my personal Tumblr; anywhere else, ask first  
**Summary:** Laurel is unsure if Bonnie respects her after the end of the trial and is surprised when the firm law assistant catches her unaware.  
**Author's Notes:** Well, this is my first work for _How to Get Away With Murder_ (and no advice about doing that will be dispensed, of course). Hopefully this goes better than _Scandal_, where my one attempt to write Quinn/Amanda fic was pretty much it for that fandom, but judging from how the Bonnie/Laurel tag has blown up, I think I'm in good company this time. This is beyond my fastest femslashing ever outside of Rizzoli &amp; Isles; it took me at least a year to see Paris/Rory, for instance. I hope you enjoy this and boy do I hope the writers keep hinting at Bonnie/Laurel in future episodes.

Not really anybody to thank here, though everyone who's picked up some of my Tumblr posts I'm really happy to see, and crystallharris for guiding me to the first B/L fic. And of course, Liza and Karla for playing up Bonnie and Laurel's tension so well, even in just two minutes of scenes so far.

* * *

Laurel knows she's a quiet one. She didn't really expect any credit at all for breaking the trial and changing it around. Even as her theory played out at the witness stand while Bonnie took the brunt of the reenactment, she still felt unsettled about what her actions had done, as she had helped win the case, yet kept a killer (man-slaughterer, technically) out on the streets.

There were times she was unsure of herself. Especially around the seemingly mouse assistant of Annaliese. Those brown eyes probing her, that refined and deep crackle of a voice bringing out the claws that so far in her experience were retracted.

Yet, she felt them. Bonnie definitely persuaded Laurel to push further and figure out a theory to clear their client. Her thoughts had been spinning the last few days of how the blonde regarded her, eyebrows raised, basically telling her she didn't give a fuck what Laurel thought.

And yet, there's loyalty there. Laurel knows little about Bonnie. Just enough to not make herself look like a complete ass around her any longer. That if Strawbridge's were still around the misses department would consider her a regular as if she was a tavern, judging from her crisp and perfect wardrobe.

_Which is a little daring_, she thought to herself in an empty moment. _Who pulls off a sundress in court? Usually that's enough for contempt and a trip to the cells downstairs in some courtrooms._

Bonnie does. She doesn't know why the blonde is haunting her young mind, why it isn't Annaliese she's secretly trying to impress. Even when she's snapping wise about what a waste of time knowing this new group of kids is, Laurel knows if there's going to be one way to get the prestige she desires from the course and the trials and discoveries to come, it goes through Bonnie Winterbottom's slim fingers.

She knows that she got into law to help those in need. That all the gilded images of it might be a fantasy, but somehow she'll be able to help. Looking over her notes, she's lost in thought when she feels fingers against hers, a puff of breath against her neck.

"There might be hope for you just yet, Ms. Castillo." Her body rumbles as the deep vocal cue curls through her eardrums, the touch sudden to her. "I just wanted you to do something to get some recognition. But you certainly did more than that."

The skin on her arm prickles. It contrasts slightly with the paler arm against hers. She shudders, not knowing why Bonnie is looking over her shoulder and somehow giving her a compliment.

_Shit, Laur, don't screw this up! _She screams internally to not get another Winterbottom death glare, and decides just to take the thanks and move on.

"I didn't expect it to. Just following my instincts, you know?" Her soft voice barely registered, the shyness present within her full-force, a trait from her college/pre-law years.

"Keep it up then. Soon you'll be following hunches without a second thought and it works out." She felt Bonnie examining her notes above her, wondering why the assistant was hovering. There was an ulterior motive to this compliment, she knew it. "Helluva a lot better than Pratt, I'll say."

"I don't want to say an ill word about her-"

"You don't have to." The smaller woman continued to examine Laurel's notes. "Just commiserating with you after that pep talk."

"Not really a pep talk," Laurel observed. She could sense Bonnie raising an eyebrow. "But it did help." She still puzzled as to why Bonnie was here, so late, in her presence.

"It always does," Bonnie purred. "Look, I know when I'm beat and I'll probably hear it from Annaliese in the morning."

Laurel's eyes popped wide. _Is she unsure?_ A hitch in the platinum blonde's voice caught her unaware.

"Want a little break? We could get something to eat, talk shop. My treat; you look a bit worn."

"A...break?"

"I don't do this often. Know...when I'm beat. At least this time," Bonnie admitted, sheepishly. "Not often I end up a courtroom prop. Especially with that loon."

Laurel slowly turned around, wondering if Bonnie was being sarcastic again. A first glance at the older woman told her that definitely was not the case. "I actually thought he was going to bust your neck open for a second," she admitted.

"Never in danger; three years of Krav Maga under my belt. He would have been hurt before I ever felt a scratch." Laurel nervously laughed as Bonnie gave her a stern glance. "But we can talk about that case later. Right now, I have crow to eat, because you did impress me." The edges of her lips curled upward just the slightest...

_Oh my God, is she...smiling? She doesn't do that! _Lips colored with basic red lipstick indeed formed the slightest of smiles. Laurel's heart fluttered for a moment, knowing from some current campus lore that getting the unflappable Bonnie Winterbottom to smile was as rare a feat at Middleton as the school's terrible basketball team getting a win.

"Thank you. But I think I'd prefer a soft pretzel with cheese, maybe some red meat instead? A little less gamey than crow." She began to gather up her things, hands shaking as she slipped her notes and books into her bag. Nervously she glanced at Bonnie as she finished, her legs shaking as she tried to steady herself

"Probably will leave your books in the car," she intoned firmly. "It's a Flyers/Rangers night and inevitably I'll end up in my usual tavern to watch the third period."

"Hockey?" Bonnie nodded.

"One of my few distractions and splurges; I get use of the Middleton box at Wells Fargo's center ice a few times a year." A shake of her head. "Now come on, before I change my mind."

"Yes, ma'am." She couldn't believe that Bonnie not only invited her for something to eat, but possibly a drink too. Her mind was dizzy with where things with her direct academic superior would go beyond going over the cases of Criminal Law 101. She felt like she dwarfed Bonnie and as she followed the woman out, she wondered if the law assistant knew that like she did in the courtroom, she was flushed staring at the exposed flesh of Bonnie's neck, framed by the stiff fabric of her dark red dress, the brass zipper of the article suddenly taunting her as if to suggest...

She's not interested. I shouldn't be interested, not a chance! I got her to smile, that's as far as I should push, she scolded herself. Before her first encounter with Bonnie she was sure she was going to lead a bland sexual life with the perfect man who would tolerate her law career, and the kids to come.

Judging from how she currently regarded Bonnie though, Laurel wasn't so sure. As the two women left the law library, she knew she wouldn't find out much more about Bonnie and she'd probably be scolded a few times this evening.

In front of her however, the slim lawyer had her own thoughts.

_You may have only come to me for advice, Ms. Castillo, but I foresee you'll be coming to me a lot more often._ It was no accident that she approached Laurel for some outside office hours, and for at least one night, she would be able to shake off the Keatings.

_Hope you're ready for a challenge._ She smiled again, unseen to Laurel, her mind's eye wondering how she could hone the wispy and soft brunette into a judicial and unforgiving barracuda. _Maybe with a couple of drinks I will know if my hunch is right._

Whether they liked each other or not, Laurel and Bonnie knew silently that they would be each other's challenge from this point on, and where it would lead was anyone's guess.

* * *

_**THE END.**_


End file.
